I took 16 credit hours (five classes) during the Fall semster.
ART 101-This class met three times a week: twice in a lecture hall and once for a discussion. For the most part I enjoyed the class. The tests were doable and the professors were average. The class was about different types of artistic techniques, art history and up to present day art. This class was for a general education requirement.
LIB 100-This class explored the meaning of a liberal education and how it can be applied. I liked it. My professor was nice and very flexible in terms of due dates and grades. I liked her. I really lucked out with this class because since this class is a gen ed, a lot of people take it and some professors make it very difficult. For example, the whole year I had to write 5 two-page papers from lectures I went to that the university put on (called co-curricular activities), write a three-page paper about a book we read together in class, read a book of my own choosing and give a five-minute oral presentation about it and a group project on a historical figure. My roommate had a more difficult class. It required more out of class commitment, she had to do a ten-page research paper on a historical figure by herself, do five co-curricular papers, a group project and several other papers. The book we read in class was The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and the book I read on my own was The Kite Runner. My group project was on Martin Luther King, Jr.
ANT 204-This was an introduction to anthropology. I ended up taking it because I had an extra class I could take and this was open. For a brief while I thought about having a minor in Anthropology, but quickly decided against it. It was really interesting to me and I liked it a lot. I became friends with three other people and we sat in the back corner of the classroom. We, so cleverly, named ourselves “The Cool Back Corner Group.” I really enjoyed learning about all the different types of cultures. “The Cool Back Corner Group” did a semester project about defining and examining a cultural activity. We chose bowling and it turned out to be very interesting.
The Cool Back Corner Group
COM 101-This is the introduction to communications class and I loved it. We studied rhetoric, performance and objectivity. I really enjoyed my professor. She is quite possibly the smartest and funniest person I’ve ever met. She made the class very enjoyable and easy to sit through. She’s a very tough grader and I’ve learned how to be a better, more thorough student. I made a good friend through that class. Overall I’ve really enjoyed it.
SPA 201-I tested into the third semester Spanish. I missed the fourth semester Spanish by a few points, so most of this Spanish was very easy. However, it was extremely good review.
I’ve adjusted to college life. It was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. My school is a big suit case school so once Friday hits, it’s like the place clears out. I had a hard time meeting people at first because I felt so much older. Even though I’m only a year older than most of the freshmen, I feel like I’m way past them sometimes.
I have a roommate. Her name is Stephanie and she is from Hudsonville. It’s about 15 minutes from campus. We get along and have similar living styles, so it seems to work out well. We have a sink in our room and share a bathroom with two other girls. They are also very nice.
This is my room. Our beds are bunked on the right and our desks are on the left.
My roommate Stephanie
I got a job as a photographer at the school’s newspaper and that has had its fair number of challenges. It’s a very stressful job and sometimes more work than it’s worth. I think I’ll wait it out for a while, but maybe after this year, that will be enough!
The school has a very nice fitness facility and it’s great. I really like going there and working out. Since I only had one class on both Tuesdays and Thursdays it was nice to be able to wake up, go work out for an hour, eat breakfast and then decide what to do with my day.
I have met some very cool people. A member of “The Cool Back Corner Group”, Tamara, has become one of my good friends and we have a lot of similarities and common interests. She runs for the cross-country team.
Emily is a girl in my communications class and we have become good friends. She’s a journalism major, so we have things to talk about and she’s a very good study partner.
I met a girl named Katie one of the first days of school and then didn’t see her for a while, but a few weeks ago I saw her at the cafeteria and she invited me to a movie night she was having. So I went to her place and met some other girls. We’ve had a good time and had about four movie nights since!
I joined a few groups on campus: Students for Fair Trade, Roteract, and Wesley Fellowship.
I really enjoy the Students for Fair Trade group because it has allowed me to meet new people. A lot of people in this area are very conservative, so it’s nice to meet people with a more liberal view. We’ve had a few events. We held a “Fair Trade Bananza” which were banana splits made with fair trade ice cream and bananas.
The Roteract group is the college version of Rotary International. I’ve gotten to meet some pretty cool people within that group. Early next semester I will be giving a presentation on Mexico to the Allendale Rotary Club.
The Wesley Fellowship is the Methodist group on campus. I’ve really enjoyed it and we’ve done some very cool things. We went disc golfing in October and I was amazed because we went to Lake Michigan afterwards and it was warm enough to put my feet in! I had to call my parents to tell them! I also went to a Retro 80s dance at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
I'm with Kaitlyn and Kate at the Retro Dance!
I spent the first weekend at Grandma’s house because we had Monday and Tuesday off for Labor Day and then a few weeks later Henry, a former student of Grandma’s, came to visit.
Grandma, Henry, Sylvia and I played in a mini-golf tournament.
The last weekend in September I went to a Maroon 5 concert and it was amazing, they are one of my favorite bands. The second weekend in October I went home for the weekend and got to see some of my friends. In mid-November Uncle Tom and Jim came up to visit Grandma and go deer hunting. I had the opportunity to dine with them at the fine Main Street Pub in Allendale.
Grandma, Me, Tom and Jimmy
I also got to go home for Thanksgiving. Nick a member of “The Cool Back Corner Group” offered to take me to the train station in Grand Rapids at 6:30 in the morning. It was extremely nice of him! So I took a train to Chicago (which took forever) ate lunch with my friend Maggie, then had a chat with another friend then took a train to Aunt Martha’s house in Fox Lake and before I knew it, I was in Galena. It was exciting to go and see Vincent play football and then be able to do it again at State and be on the sidelines taking photos. It was a memorable Thanksgiving vacation; especially since my Thanksgiving dinner was at Hooters!
Brandon and me at Thanksgiving
My family the night before Vincent's big game.
Since Thanksgiving, I’ve had a rough couple weeks, schoolwork hasn’t been stressful, just work. So it’s hard to want to do something I really love (taking pictures) when it makes me so frustrated.
My finals went well, nothing too difficult. I had my hardest final first and the easiest last. I had lunch with Grandma and Dad on Tuesday and then Dad came and picked me up after my last final on Wednesday and we left for Galena.
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